Anyone going to watch the Presidential debates?

[Seven of Nine]

This was a lively one for sure...

Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton?

Politics is a dirty business...not a huge fan but tonight was expected to be a brawl and it was...if Joe actually was smart he would have played it better...but Trump made his monkey dance and scored as many points as Chris Wallace did.

If Trump had calmed down and started communicating more... explained more in a more concise fashion he would have been better too. But he didn't.

I honestly didn't expect anything positive to emerge out of this debate, only smoke and ashes. Let's face it, Trump and Biden are old men, in their 70's, and it's been clear for quite sometime that their mental health isn't what it use to be. We have Biden with his 180 years remark and Trump with his remark about the airports being taken over during the American Revolutionary War. I think it's sad and frustrating at the same time.

 

[dev553344]

Yes we do. Every year.

I worry about fires here, we have evergreens all over and they burn like match sticks, but we don't have too many fires around where I live. We did have fires this year though, kinda scary.

It must be a lot of work clearing out all the tinder?

 

[JohnDB]

In case you aren't aware, those "thousands of square miles" all have forestry roads. And those forestry roads are used for LOGGING.

OR, -- the "Forest Guardians" can shut down all Forest Management as in my community, where the fire in 2001 BURNED DOWN ALL THE TREES ON THE MOUNTAINS plus some 600 homes. -- Yeah, so much for the "Forest Guardians".

In the meantime our average daily temperatures raised between 5 to 10 degrees from the sun reflecting off the barren hills (our community backs up against the mountains). So I installed central air conditioning.

And some 20 years later, the hills now have some scrub oak, BUT NO TREES.
Bobby Jo

They need tree planting company to do it...tough dirty work. But it pays the bills.

 

[JohnDB]

I'm off to bed.

 

[Bobby Jo]

I worry about fires here, we have evergreens all over and they burn like match sticks, but we don't have too many fires around where I live. We did have fires this year though, kinda scary.

It must be a lot of work clearing out all the tinder?

Yep, -- but it beats the alternatives (fires), and we also get more jobs for our own logging and lumber industry, -- instead of buying everything from Canada!

Bobby Jo

 

[Seven of Nine]

I'm off to bed.

Goodnight, and thank you again for your commentary of the debate. I appreciate it.

 

[dev553344]

In case you aren't aware, those "thousands of square miles" all have forestry roads. And those forestry roads are used for LOGGING.

OR, -- the "Forest Guardians" can shut down all Forest Management as in my community, where the fire in 2001 BURNED DOWN ALL THE TREES ON THE MOUNTAINS plus some 600 homes. -- Yeah, so much for the "Forest Guardians".

In the meantime our average daily temperatures raised between 5 to 10 degrees from the sun reflecting off the barren hills (our community backs up against the mountains). So I installed central air conditioning.

And some 20 years later, the hills now have some scrub oak, BUT NO TREES.
Bobby Jo

Yeah where I live I grew up riding dirt bikes in the logging roads. So I'm aware of logging roads, but not to the extent you mentioned.

 

[Bobby Jo]

They need tree planting company to do it...tough dirty work. But it pays the bills.

I worked with "Tree New Mexico" for a "Boy Scout" fund raiser where we'd take donations to plant the "TNM" 6" seedlings. It was very profitable for the young boys netting some $1,400 in one "Pack", and took half a Saturday out in the clean fresh air.

But the "TNM" is no longer in business, and each seedling must be hand watered for the first several months, -- which the U.S. Forest Service used to perform. Plus the mountains behind our community are REALLY STEEP, and I'd hate to haul some four gallons of water up those hills with multiple trips for some 30 square miles of mountains.

So it's pretty much a loss, -- thanks to the "Forest Guardians".
Bobby Jo

 

[Michie]

I worry about fires here, we have evergreens all over and they burn like match sticks, but we don't have too many fires around where I live. We did have fires this year though, kinda scary.

It must be a lot of work clearing out all the tinder?

We usually do it by hand and renting machinery. We have a burn pit we push it into.

 

[Seven of Nine]

2020 Presidential Debate Live Updates: Trump Refuses to Denounce White Supremacy in Chaotic Debate

President Trump refused to categorically denounce white supremacists on Tuesday night, diverting a question about right-wing extremist violence in Charlottesville, Va., and Portland, Ore., into an attack on “left-wing” protesters.

“Are you willing tonight to condemn white supremacists and groups to say they need to stand down and not add to the violence and number of the cities as we saw in Kenosha and as we’ve seen in Portland?” Chris Wallace, the moderator, asked the president.

“Sure. I’m willing to do that,” said Mr. Trump, quickly adding, “Almost everything I see is from the left wing. Not from the right wing.”

When Mr. Wallace pressed on, the president asked, “What do you want to call them?”

“White supremacists,” the moderator replied.

“Proud Boys, stand back and standby,” he said, apparently addressing the far-right group, then added: “But I’ll tell you what. I’ll tell you what. Somebody has to do something about Antifa and the left. This is not a right-wing problem. This is left wing.”

Here is the video verifying what Trump said: Video: Trump Refuses to Condemn White Supremacists

 

[Michie]

They need tree planting company to do it...tough dirty work. But it pays the bills.

We have sold trees to keep it healthy. There are a lot of junk trees that grow in the forest. You have to keep up on it.

 

[Giuliano]

I worry about fires here, we have evergreens all over and they burn like match sticks, but we don't have too many fires around where I live. We did have fires this year though, kinda scary.

It must be a lot of work clearing out all the tinder?

A huge percentage of the forest fires in California are on federal lands. Trump has to know that too since he was shown a map when he was visiting California. It's not quite right then to blame the government of California for it all.

Trump Blames California for Fires. He Should Check to See Whose Land They’re On.

But when Trump met California officials this week for a briefing on the wildfires, CalFire director Thomas Porter showed him a map of California’s fires, most of which were located on territory the map colored green.

As residents of the region know well, huge swaths of the American West are federally owned. Nearly 60 percent of the forests in California, 25 percent of the forests in Oregon, and 44 percent in Washington are national forests. For the most part, the forests burning across the West—the fires the president blames on state officials—are on federal lands.

Forest fire management is a complex issue, but one thing is clear: the federal commitment to it has been declining for years, and Trump has done little to reverse it. The federal government’s spending on fire prevention has been shrinking; the budget for vegetation management fell from approximately $240 million in 2001 to $180 million in 2015, a decline of 24 percent.​

It's amazing to me that with all the wild spending that went on in Washington even before coronavirus, adequate funds to manage the forests could not be found.

 

[dev553344]

A huge percentage of the forest fires in California are on federal lands. Trump has to know that too since he was shown a map when he was visiting California. It's not quite right then to blame the government of California for it all.

Trump Blames California for Fires. He Should Check to See Whose Land They’re On.

But when Trump met California officials this week for a briefing on the wildfires, CalFire director Thomas Porter showed him a map of California’s fires, most of which were located on territory the map colored green.

As residents of the region know well, huge swaths of the American West are federally owned. Nearly 60 percent of the forests in California, 25 percent of the forests in Oregon, and 44 percent in Washington are national forests. For the most part, the forests burning across the West—the fires the president blames on state officials—are on federal lands.

Forest fire management is a complex issue, but one thing is clear: the federal commitment to it has been declining for years, and Trump has done little to reverse it. The federal government’s spending on fire prevention has been shrinking; the budget for vegetation management fell from approximately $240 million in 2001 to $180 million in 2015, a decline of 24 percent.​

It's amazing to me that with all the wild spending that went on in Washington even before coronavirus, adequate funds to manage the forests could not be found.

That makes sense, although we're seeing commercial and residential fire extents, which means management in those areas has been poor maybe. If fire breaks were put in the residential and commercial areas, wouldn't that help regardless of federal land ignition sites?

 

[Bobby Jo]

That makes sense, although we're seeing commercial and residential fire extents, which means management in those areas has been poor maybe. If fire breaks were put in the residential and commercial areas, wouldn't that help regardless of federal land ignition sites?

As a young child I remember the fires raging toward what the announcer declared was the largest FireBreak created by man, -- an EIGHT LANE FREEWAY --, and the fire blew right over it and kept on going.

Even a child can see stupidity.
Bobby Jo.

 

[dev553344]

As a young child I remember the fires raging toward what the announcer declared was the largest FireBreak created by man, -- an EIGHT LANE FREEWAY --, and the fire blew right over it and kept on going.

Even a child can see stupidity.
Bobby Jo.

Yeah I remember when I lived in California that the fires would jump to and fro and were super treacherous. I'm not a fireman though so I really don't know what works. I think there is a chance of it jumping over firebreaks, but also a chance it won't.

 

[Josho]

So how did it go, who won the debate?

 

[Michie]

Nobody. It was a disaster.

 

[dev553344]

So how did it go, who won the debate?

Trump in my opinion. Bidden wants to shut down the US for Covid, he also had some socialist sounding agendas in my opinion. But it was a total disaster of cross talk and insults.

 

[Josho]

But it was a total disaster of cross talk and insults.

Sounds similar to last US federal election debate, politics certainly can be a dirty game.

 

[Giuliano]

Yeah I remember when I lived in California that the fires would jump to and fro and were super treacherous. I'm not a fireman though so I really don't know what works. I think there is a chance of it jumping over firebreaks, but also a chance it won't.

I think it would help too if people built less flammable houses. Sparks can travel quite a distance, land on buildings and start fires. Using tiles for roofs and stucco for exteriors could help a lot.